For Immediate Release
December 4, 2003
Please Contact: Colin Durrant (617)722-1650 or
Dalié Jiménez, 617-722-1650

Senator Barrios Speaks Out Against Tobin Toll Increase

An Op-Ed by Senator Jarrett T. Barrios (D-Cambridge)

For many families and commuters living in Everett, Revere, Saugus and dozens of other communities, the Tobin Bridge is the fastest and most direct way to travel into Boston. I am deeply concerned that the drastic Tobin toll hike announced recently by the Massachusetts Port Authority (MassPort) will increase the economic burden on those taxpaying residents of the state that regularly depend on the bridge for travel and work.

I'm the first to admit that tolls are needed to pay for bridge maintenance, but much of the money from the proposed increase will go toward paying for the $14.6 billion Big Dig project, including the Central Artery/ Tunnel Project. Equally frustrating is that in 2001 MassPort implemented a toll increase on the Tobin Bridge from $1 to $2. If this new increase is approved, the toll will have been raised 200% in just two years.

It is not fair that a small group of taxpayers -- those who live in the North Shore close to Boston -- are being forced to pay for a project that will benefit all the taxpayers of Massachusetts. The tolls from one bridge targeting commuters from a small part of the state should not be used to finance all of MassPort, the whole Big Dig and the entire highway system. Everett, Saugus and Revere in my district, and other North Shore communities will have to pay $3 to travel into the city - why should they bear the costs of construction and maintenance for roads used by the whole state?

As a Senator representing many of the taxpayers who utilize the bridge every day, I know from experience that the toll increase will negatively impact my constituents. The fare increase means that individuals will be paying $15 a week to drive to work and for many that is more than an hour’s pay. This adds up to $780 annually! While Chelsea and Charlestown will thankfully maintain their discounted toll fare, the taxpayers of Everett, Saugus and Revere will be left to struggle with most of the burden of the increase. It is only just that these communities also qualify for a discounted fare.

Finally, only one of the public hearings about the toll increase is being held in a community where the tolls are going up. To me, it does not seem that these hearings will generate a true view of public feeling and concern about the increases and the burden they will cause. It is for that reason I am joining other North Shore Senators in boycotting the hearings.

It's undeniable that the Tobin toll hike will be unfair and troublesome to a vast majority of my constituents who live north of the Tobin. I have done and will continue to do all I can to oppose MassPort's proposed increase in tolls because in these tough economic times every dollar counts.

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